Saturday, August 30, 2008

I looooove apricots. Unfortunately, I can't eat them raw, which I don't totally mind. Apricots are best cooked and concentrated, in jams or preserves or pies or galettes. I have about a quart of apricot jam that I brought back from Hungary, so I used that for this, inspired by thesetwo recipes. I will eat anything with apricots in them. I'm terribly jealous of anyone near Alex's mother, who makes the most delicious apricot jams, who has something like two hundred pounds of apricots to process this year. Can you tell I'm back on my feet and keeping myself busy in the kitchen until it's time to go back to work (not sure when that will be, yet)? Also, these hold up better than in the picture, I just couldn't wait to eat them so they're not totally cool.

Also, I'm submitting this for Joelen's August's Tasty Tools event, which this month was WHISKS!Apricot almond shortbread bars3/4 c cornstarch3/4 c sugar1 c rice flour1/2 c almond flour2 sticks of butter1/4 t salt1 t almond extract1 1/2 c apricot preserves (you can use other kinds if you want, I love love apricots, also, you might want to increase this if you really like fruit filling things)4 T orange liquor (you can skip this if you don't have it, or use 2 T orange juice)Preheat oven to 325. Butter an 8x8 pan, line with parchment paper, leaving an overhang to life the bars out later. WHISK cornstarch, sugar, rice flour, almond flour, and salt. Cut in butter, mooshing it up so it's all combined. I used my hands. You can use a food processor if you want. Press about 3/4 of the mixture into your pan, setting the rest aside. Mix your orange liquor and apricot preserves, and pour over the shortbread crust. Sprinkle the rest of the shortbread mixture over the top of the preserves. Bake for an hour and fifteen minutes, until the top is lightly browned and looks done, let cool, and cut into bars.